Has no one noticed how big the Puerto Rican band The Marías has become in the past year? Let me introduce you guys to one of the biggest uprising bands in indie music—be prepared to lose your mind over their unique sound!
Their hit song “No One Noticed,” off their 2024 album, Submarine, has placed The Marías as a global indie sensation.
Their use of Spanish draws in a ton of Latin listeners with songs like “Cariño” and “Lejos de Ti” (“Far From You”), while also keeping up with their English audience by mixing in lyrics that constantly play back-and-forth between both languages.
The Marías have something for everyone, whether that be soft rock or emotional ballads; they have proven to be part of the next generation of musicians, pushing the boundaries between rock and indie sounds.
Diving Back Into the Ocean
For those of you who don’t know The Marías, the band consists of: lead vocalist, María Zardoya; drummer and producer, Josh Conway; keyboardist, Edward James; and guitarist, Jesse Perlman.
Zardoya is Puerto Rican, and often songwrites alongside drummer Conway. Known for their Latin and indie sounds, they smoothly transfer that same funk and vibe into English.
Some of their earliest projects include great albums, like Superclean Vol. I and Vol II.
From there, they’ve gotten one of their biggest features with the star of Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny.
He featured them on one of his largest albums, Un Verano Sin Ti,, in the song “Otro Atardecer.” The album included a variety of genres, one song being a calm, tropical indie beat made just for The Marías.
Zardoya described to ELLE how “Otro Atardecer” proves that Latin music can be many different genres, expanding audiences’ ears to what they would typically hear in English music:
“When we started working on the track, we wanted it to lean indie. Latin music is so many different things—it’s not just reggaeton, it’s not just salsa and merengue. It’s not just pop. There’s an alternative world beyond the general market. It was really special to be a part of the album [Un Verano Sin Ti], as a love letter to Puerto Rico.”
A year later, The Marías would appear on Tainy’s debut album, DATA, with another rising artist from Puerto Rico, Young Miko. “Manaña” quickly became a hit, and pushed both Young Miko and The Marías to the spotlight when it came to rising Latin stars.
The band even appeared on Selena Gomez’s latest album, I Said I Love You First, with a song that has made its way to the top three on their Spotify.
They have even just recently opened for Billie Eilish’s tour “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour,” and continue to make appearances in music festivals, one upcoming in September 2025 for “All Things Go.”
Cinema Over Water
Before their rise to fame with Submarine, The Marías’ earlier work built the foundation of their sound. Their sound combines elements of jazz and indie to create their ethereal sound that either takes your breath away or opens your eyes.
Zardoya has such a whimsical voice that has only evolved over the years. Her spacey and soft voice will make you feel like you’re floating in the air.
That being said, Submarine is significantly different compared to their previous album, CINEMA. Besides the huge color difference (CINEMA being red-themed, while Submarine donning blue), the sounds have also changed.
CINEMA had huge hits for the band, with the most popular song, according to Spotify, being “Heavy.” The album, fittingly, acted as a movie from start to finish, with interludes of chaotic elements that leaned into jazz.
There are a few songs that stood out, such as “Calling U Back,” giving us a really pop-rock moment; “Fog as a Bullet,” being a slow Latin jazz that will have you thinking about love; and “Un Millón,” serving Latin pop.
Zardoya explained to Grammy how Submarine‘s deeper message is about finding your way out of the loneliness:
“One of the movies that inspired this album, ‘Three Colors: Blue’ by Krzysztof Kieślowskii, from the ‘Three Colours’ trilogy. Aside from the color blue, and how we’ve moved from red to blue in this album, in that movie, the main character loses her family at the beginning and she has to figure herself out and go on this introspective journey to find herself.”.
Whereas CINEMA was more laid back and leaned into the jazz and indie parts of The Marías, Submarine shines as a hard push into soft rock, still keeping the other parts intact to keep their old fanbase and gaining new ones.
Submarine follows the break-up between Zardoya and Conway, and, despite them staying friends, this album acts as a message for the old and new. Their break from the band has led to an album audiences find raw and vulnerable.
This album is the band reuniting as one, not only growing together in their music, but as people.
The Calm Before the Storm
The Marías have released a few more new songs since their album. For Latin Heritage Month, they performed at Tiny Desk and teased an extended version of “No One Noticed.”
A couple of weeks after the Tiny Desk, they released it both in English and Spanish. However, if you thought this submarine trip was over, then you would be wrong.
After opening for Billie Eilish, The Marías have given fans some new music to go crazy for. All over TikTok are clips of a new song they have been playing for the tour, which is called “Back To Me”.
Now, after almost an eternity of teasing the song and releasing snippets on TikTok, The Marías released the song as well as a surprise that wasn’t teased at all, “Nobody New”.
Both tracks still follow the Submarine aesthetic, with sounds full of reverb that sounds like drowning. There is a splash of hope that we hear in “Back to Me” when we get to the chorus before it seemingly ends with us down back at the shore, close to the water, but not entirely in it.
“Nobody New” takes us in the opposite direction sound-wise, as it enters as a slow, melodic indie pop song, emphasizing the idea that this one person can’t be replaced.
If Submarine was about heartbreak and introspectively looking at yourself and your mistakes and building yourself up again, these songs imply that while we’re out of the water, we’re still there at the shore waiting for our lover. Talk about a hit to the heart!
Back on Tour
The Marías have a busy year ahead of them, as they have just announced an extension of the “Submarine Tour.” Fans who didn’t get to see them the first time around now have the chance to see them again.
“The Submarine Tour (Extended)” will take off starting in July, and will run until late September. They will also have two openers, Julie, a band known for their grungier indie sound, and Momma, an indie rock-pop band.
This time around, The Marías will be hitting bigger venues than before, such as The Greek Theatre in California, or the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.
With their recent momentum, including being featured on some of the biggest Latin albums to date, and opening for the global artist Billie Eilish herself, The Marías have taken control of their careers and united stronger than ever, ready to evolve the world of indie.
